Research on basement membranes has accelerated rapidly and involves many disciplines: protein chemists and molecular biologists study its molecular architecture; electron microscopists, cell and developmental biologists, and neurobiologists study its interactions with and the responses of cells; and importantly, clinical investigators, such as pathologists, dermatologists, plastic surgeons and nephrologists, examine its role in disease. This application seeks partial support to bring together about 150 investigators from this wide spectrum of disciplines at the third Gordon Research Conference on Basement Membranes to be held in New Hampton, New Hampshire in June 1986. The conference will be under the Gordon Research Conference format that provides, over a period of 5 days, outstanding opportunities for exchange of research findings and for extensive discussion. There will be 3 types of opportunities for such exchanges: (i) Presentation/Discussion Sessions: 8 sessions, each devoted to a major area of current basement membrane research, in which a chairperson will provide an overview of the topic, invited speakers from the U.S. and several foreign countries will present their newest results, and open discussion will be interspersed by brief presentations. (ii) Poster Sessions: held on 3 afternoons. All individuals attending the meeting will be encouraged to present a poster. (iii) Informal Exchanges: will be possible during free afternoons and following the evening sessions. The topics to be covered include molecular and supramolecular structure of basement membrane components, organization, and specializations of basement membranes, gene structure and organization, cell interactions with basement membranes, basement membrane influences on cell phenotype, disorders of basement membranes, basement membranes in vascular biology and basement membranes in neurobiology. These latter three sessions include topics that relate to disease effects on basement membranes, including glomerular basement membrane abnormalities, abnormalities in diabetes mellitus, metastatic invasive neoplasia, inflammation, and diseases of the neuromuscular synapse.